The engineering team from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and Singapore Technology (ST) Aerospace successfully released the grounded Boeing 757 ‘9N-ACB’ on 9th June, 2017. The aircraft had been grounded at NAC’s hangar for more than two weeks following a technical glitch in the engine.

According to the official from NAC’s engineering department, the Boeing aircraft with defect on engine mount has already been maintained along with detail inspection. It is now all set to depart Singapore for C-Check which is expected to last for minimum of one month.

As per the information, the 9N-ACB will leave Kathmandu for Singapore on 13th July, 2017 subject to some circumstances. C-Check is the advanced maintenance check requiring a majority of the aircraft’s components to be inspected. It is performed approximately every 20-24 months or a specific amount of actual flight hours or as per the requirement details from the manufacturer. Due to the complexity of C-check, it is carried out in a hangar at a maintenance base having huge space.

Departure of Boeing 757 ‘9N-ACB’ will increase pressure to NAC’s flight operation as the two Airbus A320s have to take over the responsibility. In addition, another vintage Boeing 757 ‘9N-ACA’ is under the process of being auctioned. To handle this situation, NAC is trying to wet lease one A319/A320/A321 aircraft to enhance its international flight and release pressure on its two Airbus A320s. However, the negotiation between NAC and Bhutan Airlines for wet lease of one A319 aircraft is yet to be finalized and there is no any update on it.